Pasek & Paul

Featured Songs

Benj Pasek & Justin Paul wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical A Christmas Story (dir. John Rando, chor. Warren Carlyle), which opened in November of 2012 and enjoyed a critically-acclaimed, record-breaking run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. The holiday musicalwas named one of the Top 10 Shows of 2012 by Time Magazine, shared recognition as the #1 Musical of 2012 in USA Today and received an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding New Broadway Musical. Their cast album for the show was recorded and produced by Sony Masterworks and is published through Warner/Chappell Music. Benj & Justin are also the composers behind the Off-Broadway musical Dogfight, (dir. Joe Mantello, chor. Christopher Gattelli), a Best New Musical nominee for the Drama League, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle awards. Benj and Justin received a Outer Critics Circle Best Score nomination for their work on the show. Dogfight premiered in July of 2012 at Second Stage Theatre, and a cast album, produced by Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records, will be released in May of 2013. Their original songs are featured on Season 2 of NBC’s Smash, and have risen to the Top 25 on the iTunes Pop Charts.

The duo made their debut as songwriters with their widely-acclaimed song cycle Edges, which is licensed by Music Theatre International and has had hundreds of productions worldwide, including South Korea, Australia, China, South Africa, the Philippines, Denmark and more. Other theatrical works include James & the Giant Peach (Kennedy Center, Goodspeed Musicals, dir. Graciela Daniele, chor. Pilobolus), and Duck for President and If You Give a Pig a Pancake (Theatreworks USA). Their musical work for TV can also be seen on Sesame Street and Johnny & the Sprites (Disney TV series). Performances of their songs have beenfeatured on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The View, Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, VH1 Morning Buzz, The Rosie Show, Fox & Friends, and more.

Benj & Justin are the recipients of the 2011 Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a 2011 Sundance Institute Fellowship, the 2011 ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the 2011 ASCAP Songwriters Fellowship Award, and a 2007-2008 Dramatists Guild Fellowship. They are the youngest recipients of the Jonathan Larson Award (2007) in the foundation’s history. They have participated in ASCAP’s Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project and were named one of Dramatist Magazine's "50 to Watch" incontemporary theatre.

As performers, Benj & Justin have traveled throughout North America, Europe & Australia performing concerts of their work. They also teach master classes in songwriting and performance at universities around the world. They are proud graduates of the University of Michigan BFA Musical Theatre program and members of the Dramatists Guild of America.

They are currently at work on a new original musical with playwright Steven Levenson.